The present invention relates to a method of par-baking a foodstuff, and more particularly to par-baking a foodstuff so that the completely baked foodstuff is virtually indistinguishable from the foodstuff baked with topping thereon from the raw state in a single step.
Raw dough is, by definition, elastic. If raw pizza dough is placed directly on a perforated pizza cooking surface (such as a chain conveyor oven), the weight of the pizza plus any pressure from above (e.g., due to hot air impingement on the upper surface of the pizza) cause the dough to collapse and to be pulled into the perforations. As a result, when raw pizza dough is cooked in an oven with moving air, it is typically held in or on some type of pan, container, platter or other cooking vessel during the cooking process. This is the way most pizzas are cooked in traditional conveyor ovens. The pizza in a pan is placed on the conveyor at one end of the oven and when it comes out the other end of the oven, the pizza is removed from the pan. The pan is not a problem in this environment; it is standard practice.
A traditional object in cooking is to cook quality food fast. The introduction of an additional surface (e.g., a pan) between the raw dough pizza and the heat transfer means on the underside of the raw dough pizza, though enabling the pizza to be cooked and removed from a supporting surface, results in a slower cook than if the additional surface were not there. If the dough has been "pre-set"--sometimes referred to as "par-baked," "pre-baked" or "partially baked"--the pizza can be placed directly on the perforated cooking surface (without an intermediary pan) and, as a result, cook faster. This is because a par-baked pizza dough has had its dough structure set; the elasticity is gone due to setting of the dough's cell structure, and the dough has the strength to undergo the cooking process without changing shape. Using par-baked dough also speeds up the cooking process because not as much cooking is required to complete the cooking; the dough has already been partially cooked (i.e., par-baked) and merely needs to be browned and crisped during the final step of the cooking process. In fact, par-baked crusts are used frequently within the pizza restaurant industry when cooking speed is desired it may allow a reduction of from 8-8.5 minutes to 5 minutes or less in the final step cook time of a 12" diameter pizza (i.e., a reduction of about 20-30% of the total one-step cook time).
However, it is generally accepted that par-baked doughs are of lower quality than doughs that are "cooked from raw." After two step cooking, the par-baked doughs are typically tougher, drier, crustier (even in the central portion of a pizza) and frequently overcooked on the top and/or undercooked on the bottom.
On the other hand, there exists a strong impetus not to bake dough from the raw state. Baking the doughs from the raw state causes problems in practice which include the following:
1. It is extremely time consuming to prepare the dough. The dough retains its freshness for a very short period of time, typically a few hours, typically with a maximum of eight to twenty hours depending on the type of dough. As a result, dough preparation typically is done both in the morning in anticipation of the lunch business and in the afternoon in anticipation of the dinner business. A typical pizza dough-making procedure in a pizza restaurant often starts three or four hours before opening of the restaurant to the public. For example, the early arriving employees may be required to mix the dough, portion it, roll it, place it in a pan (with or without oil on the bottom), proof it (let it rise) and refrigerate it until it is time to cook it.
2. As the quality of the workforce fluctuates, and labor costs increase, there is increasing demand to remove the dough preparation phase from the pizza restaurants and have it done on a batch basis outside the restaurants in a central location.
3. Once prepared, raw dough deteriorates rapidly relative to par-baked dough, even when refrigerated, thus leading to waste when too large a quantity of raw dough has been initially prepared.
4. Typically pizza cooking ovens have only one setting at any particular time, and this causes problems when doughs of different thicknesses are cooked side by side because thinner doughs cook faster than thicker doughs.
The critical test of any solution of the "cook from raw" dough problems is that the end result must be essentially as good as freshly prepared product (i.e., the product cooked in one-step from the raw dough with topping on it).
Additionally, it is important to understand that any real solution to the raw dough problem must be adaptable to existing food products. There are several restaurant chains, each with numerous (in some cases thousands of) restaurant units. Their products are well entrenched within the restaurants' customer base, and any perceived change in the product may result in a change in consumer acceptance and, possibly, a decline in sales. For example, one of the most popular pizza styles served in many restaurant chains has a thick, soft dough which is literally fried in oil during the cook process to give it a crisp underlayer. Any solution to the "cook from raw" problems must yield finished products essentially identical to the finished products currently being served by that particular restaurant chain.
Furthermore, a solution to the raw dough problem should easily fit within the existing industry infrastructure. For example, each unit of any pizza restaurant chain is already fitted with many thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Adding more, or replacing existing, equipment is generally discouraged. Any real solution to the "cook from raw" problems should take this into account.
To summarize, the problem is that a dough cooked in two steps (i.e., a dough initially par-baked without topping on it) yields a different pizza crust than a dough cooked in one step with topping on it throughout the cooking process, the characteristics of the two-step dough pizza being less desirable than the "cooked from raw" or one-step dough pizza. In other words, how can the changes which occur during the one-step cooking process of a raw dough pizza be emulated in a par-bake environment?
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of par-baking a foodstuff without topping on it so as to yield a baked dough at the end of the second (with topping) step similar to a dough baked in one-step from the raw dough with topping on it.
Another object is to provide a two-step baking method which produces a product indistinguishable from the one-step industry standard product, but which method can also fit easily into the existing industry process.
A further object is to produce a foodstuff par-baked by such a method.